Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-11-03
JERRY. ,

want of food He lay back IN the dlngy door
way exhausted, half unconscious, bis one
friend clasped 70 his breast. HIS face was
dirty and OF leaden hus the lips u pale
purple, and his bands we're rs the claws oil
some untaIned Ching
Heavily fell the rain upon TIN dhrkening
street; the chill bitter fog OF the December
night grew morneutarily deeper, and through
it the raindroIs pushed their way sluggishly.
Little Jerry. living in the cntnfortless shade Of
the dull doorway, scarcely hseded how the
moisture came that saturated the wrett:hed
rags that clothed his frame
For two long days no food had passed his
lips. The deadly fevei that had seized on
him fortnight ago, whilst with him, had
killed the SENSE Of hunger but yesterday it
had left him, just at the break Of dawn, and
with its going had come a wild craving for
food of some--ot any sort. Wearily be bad
lifted his tired little head from the miserable
pillow of damp saeking that supported il 20
ask in feeble tones for drink, fol meat to find
himself in that darksome cellar alone!
IL was a horrible shock to the child. He
had lain unconscious, caught by the fever's
deadly clutch whilst the woman with whom
he had lived ever SINCE he could remember
anything had succumbed To that sarne fevsr's
influence, and had died and been buried
miserable drunken creature, in way kind to
him when sober, brutal to him when gin
r,,,srnowere.i her, but Us she was, the only
:. ooector he knew Whether she was his
mother, or whether fate had Just drifted him
into her path the child never knew, but the
sense that she was lost to him forever filled
him with an awful dread. He knew it when
no voice answered his in the early gloom OF
that winters morning, when his parched
tongue had cried aloud without response.
When he had dragged his worn limbs TO the
pallet where she used TO lie and found she
was no longer there, weak Ms he was and
crushed by this sudden knowledge, be
hurried back to his own bed, and
with nervous. feyerish hands sought
there for something that in his terrified
haste he could not find. He whistled in
sobbing fashion, and at last, languidly, tiny
shaggy soft thing crept to him and sought his
arms. and with the puppy, his only and most
passionately priced possession in his arms, he
CROPPED his way TO the door and found himself
upon the street just as the first faint streaks
Of dawn grew in the sullen east.
That was yesterday He had met slattern
on emerging from his lair aud had stayed her
to ask eagerly, piteously:
Where is NUM- and she had answered:
-~Ye've the right to ask-y'are! After
given .er the fever as killed her Get along
wi ye, We young varInint"
He got along, and all day, oppressed with
the weight of the idea that he had killed that
nd opu-acSad nv fha vUaaknaSS
that held him as its prey, he sat In shaded
doorways or gaunt archways, hardly knowing
that the demon hunger was gnAwing at him.
Not ha-ding either, because hardly sbie to
Lear the winnings Of the starving puppy he
held to him with such tenacious grasp
But as the next day broke he knew that he
wanted food, and sickening desire for it
arose within him. But how to get iti In all
that big, great city of London, who was there
10 give meat to this poor, stricken lamb2 Not
onel 1t was nobodys businessi Many men,
good men and true, were they sure be was
starving, could they see him, was his miser-
able case placed exactly beneath their be-
nevoent noses, would, know, have given
him sufficient to keep him in clover the rest
Of bis life But then it takes so long to bring
L0s-e lTlstTADIt cases Delttlu Iib IOStS Vi Tile
benevolent ones, that myriads die whilst the
attempt is being made, and only one out of
the many is saved.
Ii seemed TO him that he must have dozsi
awhile, as when next his dim eyes looked
with discernment upon the world, the dark
ness of night was falling. The rain, TOO, was
heavier, and through it the lamps that lit the
wretched by street where he crouched shons
with lurid light.
The little DOG was dead, but the child did
not know it l am always glad 20 think he
did not know that. He held it still fondly,
convulsively clasped to his breast, and as the
body was yet warm it did not dawn upon his
dulled mind that life was gone from it. He
sat quite still, his head dropping somewhat
forward, and one could see that his face might
have been pretty bur for the stamp of death
present and of misery now nearly passed.
that disAgured it.
BY and by, as he still sat there faint and
sick because of the ravening and gnawing
feeling within him, young man came swing
ing down the dingy street-a young man,
gaunt to evacuation with hollow cheeks and
deep set eyes, and altogether face sug-
gestive of famine 1t was not good
facet The devil had planted line here
and there in it-cynical curves round
the thin lips, hooking light tn the
eyes, a matured expression of scorD
towards the world in general He looked as
If he were always carrying on bitter war
fare with his kind
His clothes were threadbare, his hat shock
ing Beneath his arm he Rugged handful
Of shabby books as if his very soul although
he would have scorned belief in one) was
conferred on them. As indeed it was A
student evidently; out at elbows, penniless.
"Ehl what have we hsrer' said he, stopping
abruptly before the half insensible boy and
poking him with his stick. Another starve-
aing Come, speak up, child; what ais you,
chi"
Reused by this rude address and dreading
all things, Jerry lifted his dull eyes and
turned suppliant smile upon his questioner
IL was a woeful little smile, entreating, i'm
plorIng and openly deprecating the blow that
be SO plainly expected. All his poor little
life long, blows had been his portion.
@SoT said the evil looking young man
with sinister smile, starving, eha was
right. then" He stared at the child as if
musing Here, before one, lies q dis
tinct atom of the vast mysterious
whole. Here. too, lies a striking ex-
ample Of the absolute truthfuIness of that
charming little fable so sweet to the well fed
good mans ear The divine mercyI The
everlasting love that will not let SO much as
one sparrow fall to the ground-to which the
little ones are so specially DEAR Here, say,
Is an admirable illustration of it-a woodcut,
let US say, an Insignificant etching,n with a
glance at the missrably shrunken little frame
of the child at his feet. He laughed aloud:
laugh that cut like bit of cold, cruel steel
into the heart Of the covering boy Was the
blow coming nowl
you'll die if you don't look sharp. said
the strange man after another prolonged
glance at him, followed by shrug. BE
thrust bis hand into bis pocket and brought
out three copPers and six penny bit Here,
CATCH" said he, chucking the sixpence TO the
boy, who, by superhuman effort, caught it,
and then turned glance of passionate graft
tude up to his unknown friend.
Don't, said the latter, with his unpleasant
laugh. Il expect I've done you the worst
turn Of any. 1t was gross liberty on nv
part to seek to prolong your days. You will
iiihg that slxPence into the nearest gutter if
you nave grain of sense; if not, make it
last Tor two days, 1t is more than l shall
nave to hive upon for that time He paused
ana then said abruptly: "There'sa shop round
the corner"
Inc boy had dragged himself up by the
Intel OF the door with a view to thanking
MN properly in spite of his contemptuous
prohln'tio'l' but with his last words the young
man hung himself round and into the middle
of the taSsipt- crorr5 -,